Preparation of Ultrafine TATB and the Technology for Crystal Morphology Control

Abstract The ultrafine 1,3,5‐triamino‐2,4,6‐trinitrobenzene (TATB) has been prepared by using solvent and non‐solvent method, and the influencing factors in close relationship with the grain size and crystal morphology control such as categories and dosage of surfactants, volume ratio of solvent to non‐solvent have also been considered in this paper. It showed that these factors had remarkable effect on the crystal morphology, particle size and agglomeration during the crystallization process. By using 0.095% (mass percentage) ionic surfactant (S) as the additive and using spray‐drops feeding device as the dropping equipment, 1.06 g TATB raw materials have been refined into free‐running ellipsoid and spherical TATB grains with the grain size from 30 to 50 nm. By using 0.014% (mass percentage) non‐ionic surfactant (P) as the additive, spherical TATB grains with the particle diameter of 50 nm and with narrow particle‐size distribution have also been obtained. It was shown by the characterizations that the ultrafine particle of TATB had better heat resisting evenness and its 5 seconds ignition point is advanced by 7.5 K.